Coping strategies associated to widespread fear and post-traumatic stress criteria in a Mexican sample during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the population generating widespread fear due to people’s perception that both their health and safety are at risk. Widespread fear, a synonym for social anxiety, is associated with affective intrusive cognitions. Likewise, it is related to symptoms of post-traumatic stress, physiological intrusive and eluding coping responses, and could be associated with long-term vulnerability to develop PTSD. Objective. To assess the association between coping strategies, widespread fear to COVID-19, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in Mexican population exposed to the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Method. A cross sectional, empirical, descriptive study through survey research was performed; 370 participants were sampled by nationality quotas, and they completed digital self-informed instruments on an on-line psychosocial intervention. Sample size was estimated using a power analysis. Results. Findings showed reliable indicators between physiological coping and PTSD symptoms. There was a 42% variance related to PTSD delayed intrusive cognitive responses, a 40% variance was related to PTSD negative alterations in cognitions and mood, a 31% variance was explained by hyperarousal responses, and a 29% of the variance represented PTSD avoidance symptoms. Widespread fear of COVID-19 was explained by affective behavioral coping strategies linked also to PTSD symptoms. Discussion and conclusion. Research found consistency between findings and theories on emotion-centered strategies, which in turn were are related to affective coping around widespread fear to COVID-19 and avoidance intrusive symptoms, physiological coping with avoidance, considering future community post-traumatic stress traits and anxiety disorders in Mexican communities exposed to the pandemic, linking strategies with community trauma.

The Efficacy and Usability of an Unguided Web-Based Grief Intervention for Adults Who Lost a Loved One During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Randomized Controlled Trial

“…In the first study, the participants who dropped out of the intervention were invited to respond to the SUS, along with ad hoc instruments designed to allow us to analyze the participants' reasons for abandoning the intervention. The study was conducted using 3 psychological intervention platforms that were available during the COVID-19 pandemic: Salud Mental COVID-19 [57], Duelo COVID-19 [33], and Personal COVID-19 [58]. In addition, we conducted a qualitative study with the Grief COVID participants to gather information about their perceptions of the intervention.…”

A Perspective on How User-Centered Design Could Improve the Impact of Self-Applied Psychological Interventions in Low- or Middle-Income Countries in Latin America

“…In the same line, in the study of Santomauro et al ( 2 ), published in The Lancet with data of 204 countries and territories during the pandemic of COVID-19, the authors indicated that there was an increase of 53.2 million more cases of major depression, and additionally, 76.2 million cases of anxiety disorders. Regarding Latin America, before the pandemic the mental disorders were perceived as common ( 3 ), and during the pandemic the available scientific literature indicates that the population of Latin American countries exhibited an increase in symptoms of anxiety ( 4 ), depression ( 5 ), post-traumatic stress disorder ( 6 ), sleep problems ( 7 ), and alcohol consumption ( 8 ), among other problems.…”